UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Up 0.6% – What’s Next?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shares rose 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $571.70 and last traded at $567.85. Approximately 509,413 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 3,933,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $564.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNH. Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $522.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $584.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $536.49.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Delta Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 3,124 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,882,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.